From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
2014 Hong Kong protests
, also known as the
Umbrella Revolution
, were a series of protests in
Hong Kong
that started on 27 September 2014. They were protesting against the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress
' (NPCSC) decision on the proposed
electoral reform
for the planned 2017 Hong Kong
Chief Executive
election. The NPCSC would need a nomination committee to pre-approve up to three electoral candidates before they go on to a vote that involves the general population. After the election, the Chief Executive-elect still has to be formally appointed by the central government before they can officially take their post.
The student groups
Hong Kong Federation of Students
and
Scholarism
started protesting outside of the government headquarters.
[1]
During the evening of 26 September several hundred demonstrators broke through a
security barrier
and entered the plaza in front of the
Central Government Complex
. The
police
then closed off and blockaded it overnight. This caused more protesters to join and surround the police. The standoff between the protesters and police lasted for a day, during which the police started attacking unarmed protesters with
shields
,
batons
, and
pepper spray
. The movement
Occupy Central with Love and Peace
announced that they would start their
civil disobedience
campaign immediately.
[2]
On 28 September at around noon, the protesters moved onto
Harcourt Road
and went on to occupy
Queensway
. After a
standoff
that lasted for several hours, police started using
tear gas
and
water cannons
on the crowds and they also threatened to open fire with
rubber bullets
if they did not leave.
[3]